Felix Baumgartner, the man who jumped from the stratosphere, dies in paragliding accident
The 56-year-old Austrian, best known for his record-breaking jump in 2012, has suffered a fatal paragliding crash in Italy.
Felix Baumgartner, the man who stunned the world with his historic jump from the stratosphere in 2012, has died doing what he loved most: flying. The Austrian daredevil, aged 56, was killed on Thursday in a paragliding crash in Porto Sant’Elpidio, Italy.
According to the Italian media outlet La Repubblica, Baumgartner felt unwell while flying and crashed into the swimming pool of a hotel complex, injuring a woman in the process. She is said to be out of danger.
Baumgartner had been vacationing in Italy with his family.
A record-breaking jump from the stratosphere
The former military paratrooper captivated millions around the globe during the Red Bull Stratos mission in October 2012 - a live-broadcast event that pushed the boundaries of science and human endurance.
In a breathtaking moment, Baumgartner ascended to the stratosphere in a helium balloon and, from 39,043 meters (128,100 feet) above Earth, stepped out of his capsule and jumped - becoming the first human to break the sound barrier in freefall.
Within 40 seconds, he reached a speed of 1,342 km/h (833.9 mph). For reference, the speed of sound in the atmosphere is 1,243 km/h, and in the stratosphere - where air resistance is lower - it’s around 1,110 km/h.
Although Google executive Alan Eustace would later surpass Baumgartner’s altitude record in 2014, with a jump from 41,425 meters, his top speed of 1,322 km/h fell short of the Austrian’s.
Baumgartner’s legacy extended far beyond that one leap. He famously flew between the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, crossed the English Channel in freefall using a carbon wing, and completed the lowest BASE jump in history from Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue.
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